


Decaf

by Dftba99



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 11:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4389668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dftba99/pseuds/Dftba99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard happens to be in the same Starbucks as jared and his horrible date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Decaf

**Author's Note:**

> Oh wow this one is ridiculous. Jared is a little bit ooc at the end but whatever

Richard has never been one of those 'sit in a Starbucks with my laptop' people. He fucking hated those people. In fact, he hated them so much that he put off sitting in Starbucks with his laptop for as long as he could for the sole reason of not wanting to be mistaken for one of those people. But Gilfoyle and Dinesh were in the midst of one of their famous bickering wars, so Richard had been forced to seek peace and quiet elsewhere.

There are many things Richard had come to expect from starbucks: At least one very cute hipster girl with an intriguing haircut, a small group of college students, multiple business types who were 'running late'. 

What he had not expected was Jared Dunn sitting across from some guy Richard had never seen before. 

He was really good looking, and Richard found himself incredibly annoyed by how interested he seemed to be in Jared. He looked like he spent a lot of time outdoors. Which was to say he had a fair amount of muscles and he was much more tan than richard. He had that whole 'I'm trying to seem like I'm too cool to care about how I look but I actually spent over an hour getting ready this morning' look going on. Richard got a bad vibe from him.

Richard opened his laptop and began to work. Pied Piper had hit a small road bump and it was very important that he fixed it. 

But how could he be expected to work when he was being so obnoxious?!? The guy- Richard decided to call him Chad -was laughing loudly at something Jared had said. That wasn't so surprising, Jared was actually pretty funny underneath all that awkward. But wow, Chad's laugh is really annoying. God, does he have a lip piercing? Gross. You're an adult, man. Get it together. Richard was normally really into guys with lip piercings, but Chad just made it look stupid.

He couldn't help but wonder if they were on a date. The topic of Jared's sexuality had never come up, so it was entirely possible that Jared was interested in guys. But still, Richard found it hard to believe that Jared would go for a guy like Chad. He just didn't seem like Jared's type.

Richard really needed to concentrate on this work. His company is his priority. 

Did Chad just grab Jared's hand? Yes, there is definitely hand holding going on. And Jared actually looks really.....uncomfortable. He's smiling, polite as ever. But it's not his easy, natural smile that slips out when he sees a bird or something. It's a forced grin, like when someone makes a joke at his expense and he's trying to act like it didn't hurt. Maybe Richard should say something. 

But it really wasn't his place. Jared is an adult, he can turn down this asshole whenever he sees fit. 

Richard tried to focus on the problem on his computer, he really did. But Chad had been rambling about himself for at least ten minutes now. Had he even asked a single thing about Jared? Jared was pretending to be interested, but it was painfully obvious that he was regretting this date. 

Richard was not surprised at all. Jared needed a special kind of guy to woo him. He'd have to recognize that Jared was a romantic at heart, try to make him feel like the leading lady in those awful movies he's obsessed with. But he'd also have to be okay with getting romanced in return, Jared is too caring to allow any one-sided love. He needs to make Jared feel safe and help push the bad thoughts to the back of his head. Above all, he'd have to fully understand that Jared was, well, fragile. He'd need to take things slow, make sure he's always comfortable and reassured and loved. 

Not that Richard had put any thought into it. 

And with every word out of his mouth, it was more apparent that Chad was not that guy. Jesus, did he just compare himself to Ryan Gosling? The entire thing would be hilarious if poor Jared wasn't having to suffer through it.

Richard had been obviously staring at the couple for about thirty minutes when Jared finally noticed him. He probably would've seen him sooner, but Richard had parked in a far corner of the shop. But inspite of Richard's attempts to remain unseen, their eyes met across the room. 

Jared's eyes widened in shock and confusion. Richard smiled and gave a little wave, praying that Jared wouldn't try and force him to introduce himself. Chad said something about how shitty his coffee was and Jared diverted his attention back to his date. After a moment, he glanced back over to Richard and rolled his eyes. Richard laughed, relieved to see that he hadn't just been imagining Jared's lack of interest. 

Chad delved into some idiotic story about some time he'd got hammered with his friends or something. Jared gave Richard a look that very plainly said 'I would rather die than go on a second date with this guy'. it was almost sad how oblivious Chad seemed to be.

 Richard mimed an inappropriate act and suddenly became acutely aware that he was in a public setting. He prayed that no one other than Jared had seen that. Jared began to laugh, and not in the forced, polite way he'd been doing all afternoon. A real laugh that left him breathless. Poor, naive Chad seemed to think Jared was laughing at his story. 

Eventually, Richard sent Jared a text.

'Do you want me to get you out of this?'

Jared briefly nodded at him, smiling and still somehow feigning interest in Chad. 

Richard stood, picked up his laptop, and went outside. He called Jared's number and prepared himself for the performance of a lifetime. 

"Um, hello?"

"Jared! Oh my god, I'm so glad I caught you. Look, I know you're not supposed to be working today, but there's an emergency at Pied piper. Our investors are threatening to pull their funding and I just don't think we can fix this without you-" 

"Say no more. I'm on my way." Jared sounded so serious that for a moment Richard was worried that he hadn't gotten the joke. 

Richard peeked in through the glass as subtly as he could. Jared looked apologetic, he was probably explaining that he had to cut their date short. And then Chad leaned in and-   
Richard audibly gagged. 

Jared exited the Starbucks looking a strange mixture of disgusted and relieved. They both collapsed into fits of laughter as soon as they were a safe distance away from the building. 

"I've never done anything like that before in my life!"

"You've never lied to get out of a date before? Thats, wow, you have some impressive endurance," Richard was still giggling a little. "Who the fuck was that guy anyway?" 

Jared groaned. "I have this friend who tries to set me up with every gay guy she meets. She means well, but...." Jared trailed off.

Richard nodded. "Yeah, uh, I totally know what you mean. My sister used to fix me up with every guy she saw. Like, I need to have a little more in common than gender preferences, you know? That's uh, that's actually how I developed my amazing talent for lying to get out of things."

"That was impressive," Jared laughed. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there."

Richard knew that it was probably poor etiquette, or at the very least just a dick move, to ask someone out right after you've gotten them out of a different date. But he still kind of wanted to. 

"I still can't believe he kissed you!" Richard shook his head. "What an asshole."

Jared grinned at him. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous."

God, was Jared actually flirting with him? Richard's face immediately felt hot. 

"I, uh...." Very smooth. Richard cleared his throat. "M-maybe I was. A little. I mean, he was just such an asshole, and I just think you could do better." Richard's voice cracked a little. He stared at his feet, wishing he could just sink into the ground.

Cautiously, Jared pressed his lips to Richard's temple. Richard was certain he was blushing like crazy now. 

"Maybe sometime you could show me what kind of skills you picked up on the dates you didn't lie your way out of."

Richard couldn't find his voice. When did Jared become so suave? 

"Y-yeah. Okay. Sure. How about, like, right now?"

Jared smiled widely. Richard felt weak.

"As funny as that phone call was, we actually do have a lot of work to do," Jared said. 

Richard shrugged. "Work can wait."


End file.
